


Time to Sign

by FFlove190



Series: Rare Pair Week 2019 [3]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 10:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17848124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FFlove190/pseuds/FFlove190
Summary: Zack really hates paperwork, even when it has to do with the guy he's in love with.





	Time to Sign

**Author's Note:**

> Rare Pair week Day 3: Things / Relationship Disclosure form
> 
> Unbeta;d

Zack fiddled with the pen. 

 

“Are you  _ sure _ we have to submit it?” Zack asked. The submission part was the easy part; the whole filling it out thing was the hard part. Zack probably should have asked if he had to fill it out at all. Zack Fair, SOLDIER First, was allergic to paperwork: it made his head itch, his fingers twitchy, and his mind 100% blank. 

 

“All you have to do is sign it.” Tseng was sitting casually all the other side of the table, drinking some coffee and looking at the newspaper like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Zack was pretty sure Tseng was the only guy who actually liked reading his news instead of hearing it.

 

Technically - only technically - Tseng was right. All Zack had to do was put his name right there and it'd be over. Just woosh and done.

 

Zack clicked the pen. Then he balanced it between his lips and his nose; it smelled bad. Then he started seeing if he could aim it at the trash. 

 

“Zack.” 

 

When Zack looked back over, Tseng was giving him his patented stink eye. In the mysteries of how Tseng became a Turk, Zack was pretty sure that the third reason (at minimum) was his stink eye. It was more effective than any of Angeal’s scowls. 

 

“I need you to sign that paper.”

 

Zack knew it was simple, but he just… couldn’t. 

 

Tseng had already filed it out. His handwriting was like typing: precise and with a little floosh that Zack secretly wished he could mimic. But he’d have to be good at paperwork to do  _ that _ . 

 

It was the relationship disclosure form between one Zack Fair and Tseng Zu… Za… uh, it was a name that Zack had no idea how to pronounce (he really needed to ask Tseng about that). It was concise and to the point just like all the paperwork Angeal gave him. But it still bothered him. 

 

“I don't understand.” Zack wiggled the pen. “I thought you wanted our work and private lives separate. So like, no kissing at the office and stuff.”

 

“They are.” Tseng finally put down the paperwork he was looking at. Zack liked it when Tseng’s full attention was on him. “And I would like to keep it that way.”

 

“What?” Zack couldn’t make heads or tails of it. “But then… why do you want me to sign a thing that tells our bosses we’re dating. Isn't that, kind of…” the first word that came to his head was dumb, but Zack knew that wasn't the right word. 

 

“Counter intuitive?” Tseng had one for those half smiles on his face; he did that sometimes when Zack wasn't in on the joke. It was cute, but Zack still liked the one that lit up his eyes more. 

 

“Yeah. That.”

 

“Do you remember the mission you took last week?” 

 

Zack did. They all kind of blended together after a while but that one had been special - it had been their first mission together since they started dating. 

 

“Yeah. What about it?” Zack liked how smart Tseng looked in his Turk suit. Seeing him all put together on the field, ordering people around, ordering  _ him _ around had been just amazing. 

 

“You do realize that you took a bullet for me.” Tseng said it without inflection. That had been less amazing. And also it had been more than one bullet. Nah, Tseng was a quick guy: he would have dodged the rest of them. 

 

“I would have done it for anyone.” Zack offered. 

 

Tseng rubbed at his forehead. That little crease was there again and Zack wanted to crawl over the table and kiss it away. 

 

“I know that.” The words had some bite, but Tseng sounded more tired than anything. “It's not your penchant for heroism that bothers me; I wouldn’t change that about you even if I could. It's... about what happened after.”

 

Zack thought back to it. Tseng had confirmed he was in one piece, radioed for back-up, and continued the mission without him. It had stung a bit, but Zack understood protocol. And then, when Tseng had visited him in the hospital, it had been stiff and awkward - all professional and none of the kissy kissy that Zack was expecting.

 

“Uh. Yeah. I promised I wouldn’t uh, be so reckless again.” Zack tried. “But… you were in danger.”

 

“Zack. I am not a princess in need of saving.” Tseng sighed. “I'm a Turk, I can handle myself. But when you…” Tseng took a shaky breath. “You put me in a position where helping you would mean disobeying orders. You made me choose.”

 

Zack stopped fidgeting all at once. 

 

Tseng had told him what disobeying orders meant for a Turk. Zack had thought SOLDIER was strict until he heard the cryptic statements Tseng had given him. Tseng had told him at the beginning of their relationship that it would be over if he had to make a choice between Zack and orders. So Zack had done his best to make sure that never happened - it was one of the reasons he was eager to keep their work and private lifes just as separated as Tseng wanted them to be. Because being with Tseng was one of the best things ever. 

 

“That and…” Tseng took a shaky breath. “You're a distraction when we're in the field together.” Tseng had a preference for bitter foods in the morning, but they usually didn’t make his words sound like  _ that _ . “We can't afford distractions in our line of work.”

 

“Tseng. I…” Zack didn't know what he could say. “... I was really excited to have a mission with you…”

 

“And it make you sloppy.” Tseng said. “It made me sloppy, too.”

 

“But we work well together!” They didn't have a long track record of missions, but it was enough.

 

“That was before  _ us _ , Zack.” Tseng pointed a finger between them, and then tapped it on the form. “This form will keep us from being put on missions together -”

 

“But - !”

 

“And will allow me to visit you in the infirmary. And harass you at my leisure. And take time off together without the hassle of hiding it.” Tseng said the last part with a smile that was tense around the eyes. 

 

“But we met on a mission…” Zack tried weakly. Tseng on the field was beautiful: watching him fire guns, pilot helicopters, and just be so competent. It made Zack’s heart melt all over. 

 

It wasn't like they were  _ hiding  _ that they were together. It was just that none of Zack’s friends knew - Angeal didn’t even know. Since most of his friends  _ were _ co-workers in one shape or form, Zack thought it wasn’t appropriate to talk about how he was with Tseng. 

 

Zack liked the idea of being able to tell everyone about his cute boyfriend and the little adventures they went on off-duty instead of offhandled mentioning one or two things. Zack also liked the idea of being able to drag Tseng around to his friend’s houses, to Angeal’s dinners, to game nights, to all the little things that Tseng was missing out on. 

 

“Zack.” Tseng’s voice was half admonition and half affection. “I'm not doing this idly. You know that.”

 

“I know.” Zack stared at the form. Tseng didn’t dive headfirst without checking the depth of the water - everything he did he did for a reason. Zack  _ knew _ that. Zack gripped the pen and took a breath. “I just need to sign, right?” 

 

Tseng stood and walked around to Zack’s side of the table. A hand on Zack’s shoulder, the press of a body warm on Zack’s back, and a finger pointing at a dotted line. “All you need to do is sign here.”

 

Suddenly the prospect of signing this thing wasn’t so terrible after all. All this time, maybe he’d just needed a Tseng to stand behind him when he filled out paperwork.

 

“Okay.” Zack went to sign. Tseng’s hand massaged his shoulder, and warm lips were on his cheek when last letter was finished. 

 

“Good job, Zack.”

 

“You got anymore paperwork for me to sign?” Zack clicked the pen a few times as he turned to look at Tseng’s face. “I could take on a mountain of it right now.”

 

Tseng laughed: warm and affectionate. His hand covered Zack's and lowered the pen. “I think your fingers would fall off first.”

 

“You could kiss it better?” 

 

Tseng quirked a brow. “I could try. But first…” Tseng took the paper and pulled away. “I have to go to work.” 

 

“Aww.” Zack did his best to stay attached to Tseng without getting up from the chair; he had to windmill his arms to keep from sprawling on the floor. “Don't go.”

 

“I'm sure you already have a mountain of paperwork to do.” Tseng said playfully. He was pulling on his painfully attractive suit jacket. The relationship disclosure form was folded once, twice, and then disappeared into a pocket. God Zack wished he could follow that form right into that pocket, just grab Tseng and - and -

 

“Wait!” Zack jumped out of the chair and made for Tseng. “I want a goodbye kiss.” 

 

Tseng smiled: it was that beautiful one that made him look like he was sparkling.Zack’s heart melted all over again. Tseng reached up and pulled Zack down for a kiss. It was just a peck, just a smoosh of lips. It was never enough in the mornings, but Zack savored it anyway.

 

“Good luck at work.” Tseng said it with a glint in his eye. 

 

“You too!” Zack didn’t get the joke. 

 

Zack figured it out when he slid into Angeal’s office and Angeal, pale face and mouth open, pointed wordlessly at the relationship disclosure form. Zack took it as a cue to start telling anyone who would listen how amazing his boyfriend was. 


End file.
